The first short story taking place in the Vastport setting from Ambition and Berries has been finished! The story takes place before Ambition and Berries, and is based off an event mentioned in passing during the novella. It focuses on berry inflation. And if you enjoy the story, then consider looking into Ambitions and Berries as well!

Zak gets an unwanted introduction to berrymancy while practicing his lockpicking skills in the Academy of Zenith's Mount.

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Vastport - The Berrymancer and the Thief
By: Indi

Zak stood with his back flat against the cold, stone wall in complete silence. The mouse kept his breathing slow and shallow. His tail was still. The camouflage enchantment on his sleeveless tunic meant he was practically invisible as long as he didn’t move or make noise. It was impractical in a crowded setting, but thankfully the halls of the dorms at the Academy of Zenith’s Mount were quiet that night. The only other student there was a unicorn just leaving his room. Zak’s target.

The unicorn locked his door and walked down the hall. His mane was in a braid that ran down his chest. He had round glasses and the tunic of a mage student. He passed right by Zak, not even glancing in his direction. Zak carefully turned his head and watched the unicorn activate a travel chute and float out of sight.

A minute later he pulled back the hood of his tunic, dispersing the camouflage enchantment. Zak was short and chubby. Loose clothing hid his small belly some, but his round cheeks weren’t possible to disguise. He’d vowed to lose weight eventually, but had become an expert at putting off exercise and dieting. They simply didn’t matter to him as much as his studies.

Zak belonged to the scouting school of the Academy, which focused on teaching various tracking and covert skills. Most of his peers planned to put their abilities to good use in guilds. He planned on using them to become a professional thief. But any good thief needed practice, and lectures on lockpicking paled in comparison to the real thing.

The student dorm offered Zak a plethora of choices to practice on. Through word of mouth, he’d learned a member of the wealthy Greaves family attended the Academy, a unicorn named Alistair. He’d shadowed him from lunch to find his room, then spent a few days planning the heist. The unicorn was bound to have valuable trinkets for him to swipe.

Zak looked up and down the hall one last time before pulling out his lockpick. He eased it into the lock, as he had dozens of times before during practice. His ears picked up click after click. Just as the mouse was certain of his success, a chill surged through his body.

Zak let go of the pick and shuddered. “Weird,” he mumbled under his breath, before returning to work. He stopped seconds later when he watched his paws turn orange.

“What the hell?” Zak said, looking his paws over front and back. He saw the fur on his arms was orange as well. Even his tail had changed color. He smacked his lips. His whole mouth tasted of orange juice.

The chill returned, but only in his stomach. A swift, odd fullness followed. Zak’s gaze slowly drifted down, and his eyes widened. His middle had begun to swell.

Zak nervously tapped his ballooning belly with the tip of his tail and felt it slosh around. The mouse realized with horror he was turning into an orange.

Berrification was a common sight at the Academy. Zak saw one or two berries being rolled around campus a day, the helpless students usually either embarrassed or annoyed. And of course there were the permaberries, who’d never fully returned to normal after being juiced. Their bright coloration and round bellies made them hard to miss.

Zak looked from his growing gut to the door. The unicorn had placed a trap to fend off thieves, and he’d blundered right into it. He’d known Alistair was a mage but hadn’t bothered learning his focus. Though in hindsight he doubted he’d have scrapped his plans just because they were a berrymancer.

Creaking seams caught Zak’s attention. His tunic and pants both clung tightly to his swelling body. His belt dug into his waist uncomfortably. As common as inflation was on campus, the mouse had neglected to invest in any outfits enchanted to stretch. Everything he wore was doomed to be shredded as he transformed into a giant orange. Being clothed wouldn’t do him much good, though. He’d still be helpless in the end.

Damn it! Where’s the nearest juicing room again? Zak racked his brain trying to come up with the answer. The Academy had quite a few places to juice students who became berries, but their locations escaped him the moment he needed one most. He’d always laughed at the berries waiting in line at them. Now he’d be the one mocked by passersby.

Zak had only taken two steps towards the travel chute when his belly blimped outward dramatically. He’d begun inflating faster. All hopes of reaching a juicing room on his own were dashed. Unless one was waiting at the bottom of the chute, it just wasn’t possible. He cursed the strength of the unicorn’s spell and ran.

Seams tore apart as Zak’s belly swayed, freeing itself. His belt snapped and clattered to the stone floor, along with his dagger and pouches of tools. The pressure relief made up for the loss. His limbs steadily puffed up, reducing his run to an awkward jog. The sloshing echoed down the hall.

Zak’s body took on a spherical shape, slowing him down further. Moving was an ordeal. He shuffled onward in panicked haste, the shredded remnants of clothing trailing behind him. A single misstep sent him tumbling forward. He squeaked as he rolled onto his belly, less than ten feet away from the travel
chute.

Zak’s limbs were gradually enveloped until only his paws stuck out. His chin pressed gently against his taut hide. Filled to the brim with juice, he felt like he weighed a ton. Wobbling was the only movement the mouse was capable of, and it wasn’t enough to get him anywhere.

Nagging pressure lingered at the edge of Zak’s thoughts. He found he could ignore it for short periods, but it’d always return. Despite a few faint creaks, he didn’t feel in any danger of popping. He considered himself lucky his dagger had fallen off relatively quickly, rather than holding out to menace him. Becoming a puddle of juice would’ve been a tremendously embarrassing way to go.

Zak groaned and sighed. He had no choice but to wait until someone wandered by and helped him out. It could very well take hours.

As the mouse feared, time passed slowly as an orange. Zak could wobble and moan, and little else. The pressure distracted him from thinking too hard about anything. He counted the stones in sight on the floor so many times he had to switch to counting the ones on the walls for a change of pace. He’d been on the verge of counting his creaks when his ears picked up the hum of the travel chute being used.

At long last, Zak would be rescued. A wide smile spread across his round face and his eyes began to water. When his savior arrived, his mouth dropped open.

Alistair stood before him. His first reaction was shock. He looked the massive mouse up and down. A frown formed, but it soon changed to a slight grin. “Well, stranger, you seem to have gotten yourself into some interesting trouble.”

Hiding the fact he’d set off the trap was pointless. Not even a half-asleep fool would consider it a mere coincidence he’d started transforming into an orange right outside the trapped door. His berrification was too specific, and the trail of debris too obvious. But no self-respecting thief would give up, even when cornered.

“I thought no one would ever drop by and I’d be stuck all night!” Zak said in sorrow. “I was returning from a late-night study session and got off on the wrong floor by mistake. When I went to open the door to what I thought was my room, I got blasted by a spell instead!” A weak lie, but he was proud of what he’d come up with on the spot.

Alistair’s eyes narrowed. His smile faded. He pat Zak’s taut side, wobbling the mouse some. “That’s horrible. Whoever lives in that room must have been paranoid and trapped it. And with a shoddy spell, too, if it went off that easily.” Zak saw him bite his lip.

Against the odds, Zak’s lie had worked. Alistair’s own lie was clearly an attempt to avoid being yelled at for the trap allegedly having a hair-trigger. His guilt could be used against him.

“I’m just lucky I didn’t pop!” Zak said, with an appropriate whimper. “I know this is a lot to ask, but would you be able to roll me to a juicing room?”

“Of course!” Alistair blurted out. “I could never abandon someone in your situation.” Without a doubt, the unicorn had the tone of someone trying to hide a mistake. Zak wished he could applaud himself for his expert manipulation.

“You’re a lifesaver!” Zak said.

“Oh, I’m nothing so grand,” Alistair said, sheepishly. He turned away and scratched the back of his head. “Now let’s get you juiced.”

Hooves pushed against Zak’s taut side, causing creaks and faint spikes in pressure. The juice within him sloshed as he was rolled in front of the travel chute. He somehow felt heavier when moving.

“Um, is it safe for me to use the chute?” Zak asked. He couldn’t help but imagine himself rolling over the edge and plummeting before the float spell could activate. He’d burst like a water balloon on impact, sending a cascade of orange juice flooding down the hall. He shuddered.

“No need to fear, it’s perfectly safe,” Alistair insisted. “I’ve seen plenty of blimps and berries use them before without any issues. You’re also smaller than most berries, so there’ll be room to spare going down.”

Zak’s face twisted. Even as a berry he was still getting called small. He held off on snapping at Alistair since he still needed the unicorn.

Alistair nudged Zak closer to the edge. A tingling sensation spread through his body as a float spell was cast on him. Seconds later he was shoved in.

Zak squeaked in fear but didn’t fall. He slowly rotated in place, a small, aimless moon within the chute. As he spun, he saw Greaves launch towards him. The unicorn flailed his arms and legs before colliding with him, his horn digging into his hide. Zak’s eyes bulged as he felt the pressure within him intensify. A loud creak came from his body, and he was convinced he was about to explode. Suddenly the pressure faded as Alistair’s horn pulled away.

“Sorry, sorry!” Alistair said, floating above the dazed mouse. “I put a bit more strength into my dismount than I meant to and—well, sorry!”

“That’s okay,” Zak said. He was still shaking a little from the close call.

“Good to hear. Now I’ll need to give you a nudge to get you going, so you might feel a little jolt of pressure. Ready?” Alistair asked.

“Yeah, as ready as ever,” Zak mumbled.

The nudge felt more like a shove. Zak wiggled his paws as he descended the chute. Two floors down he bounced off the side of the chute, forcing a thunderous belch out. Momentum launched him into the opposite wall further down, and made him spin. At the bottom, he ricocheted off the wall and exited the travel chute. The float spell dissipated the second he was in the hallway. Zak bounced and belched, coming to a rolling stop nearly twenty feet away.

Zak was still groaning when he heard Alistair land. “Are you okay?”

“Y-Yeah,” Zak lied. The rough treatment infuriated him, but he didn’t have the luxury of being able to choose who brought him to the juicing room. He couldn’t believe such an oblivious clutz had become a mage, though. Clearly gold was getting Alistair through his classes rather than grades.

“Alright, I’m pretty sure there’s a juicing room in this direction,” Alistair said. Zak couldn’t see where the unicorn was pointing, and hoped his uncertainty was unfounded.

Rolling proved to be disorienting. Zak’s vision switched between the floor, hall, and ceiling over and over again, until location lost meaning. The corridors were empty for the most part, which saved Zak from getting teased. Occasional snickers still made him blush. More than ever he wished he still had clothes on. He wondered if the juicing rooms kept robes around for juiced students to wear. If they didn’t, he’d have a very long, very awkward sprint home ahead of him. He blushed harder.

The short trip Zak had been expecting began to drag on. No matter how many corridors they went down or how many turns they took, their journey didn’t end. Even if Alistair had gotten lost, they should’ve stumbled across a juicing room already.

“Um, do you think we’re getting close to the juicing room?” Zak asked.

“Yes, definitely! I kind of got turned around for a bit, but we’re definitely on the right track now. Should be there in just a few minutes. Probably.”

Zak held back a scowl. He desperately wanted to be juiced, but he was being led by an idiot. Alistair’s poor attempts to make up for the fake accident annoyed Zak so much he was already plotting to try stealing from him again just to get some revenge. The unicorn owed him a gold ring or two for the rough treatment alone. He began to believe Alistair couldn’t have possibly been the one to set the trap on the door. He had to have paid a more competent berrymancer to do it for him.

Lost in frustrated thought, Zak was surprised when he came to a stop. “Did we finally make it?” he asked, eager to be juiced.

“Yes! Though I’m afraid the juicing room’s closed,” Alistair said.

“What? How could it be closed?!”

“They all close at midnight. They’re operated by students, so they have to close at some time.”

“Wait, it’s past midnight?” Zak had completely lost track of the time as an orange. “We gotta try another room, there has to be one open!”

“It doesn’t matter which one we go to, it’ll be just as closed as this one,” Alistair said. “There were no exceptions. I should know, I used to work at the one right in front of you. It’s fairly out of the way. We passed by four others alone on the way here.”

“Then why didn’t we go to one of them?!” Zak raged.

“Because I needed to pass the time while waiting for them to close, thief,” Alistair said.

Zak’s heart raced. “I’m not a thief, I’m a victim!”

Alistair burst into laughter. “I’ve been holding that in since the moment you rattled off your ridiculous little story.” He laughed again. “My trap only goes off if magic or a lockpick is used on the door. Twisting the doorknob would do nothing but create noise.”

“Obviously you cast it poorly!”

“Not a chance. And I know what a shredded scout tunic looks like, even from a distance. Rogues seem more prone to becoming blimps than scoring loot around here,” Alistair smirked.

Zak silently cursed his bad luck. Getting fooled by Alistair was even more embarrassing than getting turned into an orange. Yet he still refused to give up. “Okay, okay, I admit I was trying to break into your room, but it was just for practice! I have to hone my skills just like everyone else here, and that means picking the occasional lock. I wasn’t going to steal anything!”

“So it’s merely a coincidence you chose the door of someone from a noble family like myself?” Alistair let out a mocking, one-note laugh. “Do you really think I’ve got treasure hoarded away in my room? If I did, I wouldn’t be living in the dreadful campus dorms.” The unicorn shuddered with disgust.

Lies continued to fail Zak, and they were all the helpless orange had left in his arsenal. “It doesn’t matter what I intended to do! I never actually broke into your room, so you can’t prove I did anything wrong. You’ve broken more rules than I have by kidnapping me!”

“You’re right, I can’t prove you were trying to break into my room. A scout with a lockpick on them wouldn’t be considered suspicious,” Alistair said. “But in the same vein, you can’t prove I kidnapped you. All I did was roll you to a juicing room, as you requested. I may not have rolled you to the nearest one, but you never specified an exact destination, so really that’s your own fault. And it’s not like I’m holding you down. You’re free to go on your merry little way whenever you want.”

“Not while I’m a damn orange!” Zak shouted.

“Oh, right. Silly me, I forgot not everyone is a berrymancer. Even as berries we’re not exactly helpless. Meanwhile, a mere thief like you is at the mercy of anyone who wanders by.” Alistair’s horn glowed and he shook his head to the right, causing Zak to spin in place. He flailed his paws as the juice within him swirled around. He stopped abruptly after a few spins. “But rest assured, someone will be around in the morning to get you juiced. You’ll be first in line and everything!”

“I don’t want to spend the whole night stuck as an orange!” Zak said.

“Why not? It’ll be quite relaxing, sitting still and gently sloshing. The light creaks will help your drift to sleep, too. You’ll need to get used to that, by the way. I made sure to use my most potent spell; by morning you’ll be a permaberry.” Alistair grinned.

Zak hadn’t realized the night could get worse. The thought of constantly filling with orange juice terrified him. Getting rounder and rounder as the day went on, stuck with a permanent, sloshing gut. He’d need to be juiced daily, maybe more if Alistair’s spell were strong enough. There were ways to return to normal, but they were prohibitively expensive, especially for a student. It could take years for him to earn enough for a ritual.

“Wait, please, I don’t want to be a permaberry! I don’t want to be round!”

“If I were you, I’d be more worried about becoming fat.”

“Huh?”

“Juice is very fattening in immense quantities, and you’re currently filled with a few kegs worth,” Alistair said. He tilted the mouse, chuckling as they wiggled. “By the time you’re juiced tomorrow morning, you’ll have digested gallons of the stuff. I’m not sure exactly how much weight you’ll gain overnight, but I’d say it’s safe to guess you’ll be quite plump afterward. And the pounds are bound to keep piling on if you don’t keep up with your exercise. It’s a little known fact that most permaberries double or triple in size by graduation.”

Zak imagined himself ballooning up, growing as fat as an elephant. “I’d never reach graduation if I got that fat. It’d ruin my career! Please, you have to juice me. I know berrymancers can do that. I’ll do anything, I’ll be your damn servant if I have to!” the mouse begged.

“I’ve already got lackeys. What need would I have for an incompetent thief?” Alistair asked. “But look on the bright side, you could very well become the first thief to be as wide as they are tall. Wouldn’t take much, considering how short you are.” The unicorn snickered and slapped Zak hard on the side, causing him to wobble and creak. “Well, I’m heading off to bed now. Slosh well, fool~”

Alistair started down the hall. Zak’s voice soon echoed behind him. “Wait, don’t go! Please, you gotta juice me, you can’t leave me like this! Please!”

The mouse’s pitiful pleas gradually faded as Alistair got further away. He almost missed them when they were gone.

Alistair’s night had been boring until he’d caught the thief. Dinner with his boyfriend had been ruined by obnoxious friends, and he’d barely been able to excuse himself early. Confirming the effectiveness of his trap had salvaged the night.

Yet fury still simmered within the unicorn. He’d considered popping the insolent mouse numerous times as he’d rolled him through the Academy halls. It wouldn’t have taken much effort. A hard shove into a sharp corner. A firm poke with his horn. A tight squeeze while asking the thief how it felt to burst like a balloon. There wouldn’t have been anyone around to witness the explosion, either. The mouse would just be another student who fell victim to a tragic accident.

Popping them wasn’t a good enough punishment, though. No, it’d be far better dooming the thief to live as a permaberry. He’d be reminded of his mistake every time his belly sloshed and jiggled. Every time a peer laughed at his attempts to sneak while sporting a gut big enough to get wedged in doors. Every time he was hooked up to a pump for a juicing. And perhaps, on occasion, they’d cross paths on campus, and he could cower at the sight of the unicorn who’d turned him into an orange on a whim.

It was so nice to end the night on a good note.



Zak frowned as he left the juicing room. There had been robes available. They were cheap and uncomfortable, but they’d get him back to his dorm room with some of his dignity intact. He already wasn’t looking forward to shopping for new clothes wearing them, though.

Alistair hadn’t been lying when he’d told the mouse he’d gain weight. Zak’s small paunch had ballooned into a doughy orange gut that jiggled with every step. His rump was bigger and his tail thicker. While he hadn’t had a chance to look into a mirror, he could feel his cheeks were rounder, too. Friends and classmates likely wouldn’t recognize him when they next met. But once they did, the laughter would be inevitable.

Zak stopped and squeezed his belly. The softness made him blush. If he didn’t adopt a steady exercise routine, it’d only grow bigger.

The mouse whimpered. How was he going to keep up with his classes a few dozen pounds fatter and filled with juice? Dodging traps and squeezing through the obstacle courses had already been a challenge when he was merely chubby. There were plenty of hefty students in the scouting school, but they were training to disable or make traps. Few of them would be sneaking around snatching valuables. The future he’d always dreamed of was in peril, and he didn’t know if there was any way to save it.

“Stupid unicorn!” Zak whined. “I’ll show him, I’ll become the best damn permaberry thief in the city!” His gut wobbled as he raged, and he swore he heard the faintest slosh from within. His ears flattened and his brief burst of confidence abandoned him. Life had gotten quite complicated for the would-be thief.